Updates, advisories and surprises

(4:36 PM ET) SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Apple Inc. said Tuesday afternoon that it has named long-time board member Art Levinson to the post of non-executive chairman of the board, replacing the late co-founder Steve Jobs, who died last month after a long battle with cancer. Apple
AAPL, -0.87%
also said Bob Iger, president and CEO of the Walt Disney Co.,
DIS, -0.02%
has also joined the board. Levinson has been on the company's board since 2000. He currently serves as chairman of Genentech Inc.

Autodesk earnings jump 36%, beating forecasts

(4:10 PM ET) SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Autodesk Inc. reported a 36% jump in earnings for the third fiscal quarter, coming in ahead of Wall Street's estimates. For the period ended Oct. 31, Autodesk
ADSK, -0.04%
reported net income of $72.8 million, or 32 cents a share, compared to net income of $53.6 million, or 23 cents a share, for the same period last year. On a non-GAAP basis, the company said it would have earned 44 cents a share for the recent period. Revenue grew 15% to $548.6 million. Analysts were expecting earnings of 41 cents a share on revenue of $543.9 million, according to consensus estimates from FactSet Research.

(9:43 AM ET) SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Tech stocks showed some signs of life in early trading Tuesday as the sector tried to turn back on the previous session's losses. Dell Inc.
DELL
rose 9 cents a share to trade at $15.40 ahead of the the PC company's quarterly results, due after the market close. Gains also came from Oracle Corp.
ORCL, +0.73%
Hewlett-Packard Co.
HPQ, -0.33%
and Apple Inc.
AAPL, -0.87%
The Nasdaq Composite Index
$COMPQ
edged up by 1 point to 2,658.

TJX quarterly profit rises to $406.5 million

(9:07 AM ET) WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- TJX Cos.
TJX, +0.29%
owner of the T.J. Maxx retailer, said Tuesday its fiscal third-quarter earnings rose to $406.5 million, or $1.06 a share, from $372.3 million, or 92 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Sales rose to $5.79 billion from $5.53 billion. Analysts surveyed by FactSet Research were looking for earnings of $1.05 a share, on average, with sales of $5.84 billion. For fiscal 2012, ending in January, the Framingham, Mass.-based firm predicts adjusted earnings in the range of $3.93 to $3.97 a share. Wall Street expected $3.96 a share. TJX shares were indicated lower in premarket trading.

Saks 3rd-quarter net off 51%, sales up 5.1%

(8:53 AM ET) TEL AVIV (MarketWatch) -- Saks Inc.,
SKS, -1.24%
the New York retailer, reported fiscal third-quarter net income fell 51% on 5.1% higher sales and 5.8% higher comparable sales. For the quarter ended Oct. 29, Saks earned $17.8 million, or 11 cents a share, compared with $36.3 million, or 20 cents, in the year-earlier quarter. The year-earlier adjusted earnings were 6 cents a share. Sales reached $692.3 million from $658.8 million. A survey of analysts by FactSet Research produced a consensus estimate of 9 cents a share of profit on $683.7 million of sales. Gross-profit margin widened to 44.2% of sales from 42.6% in the year-earlier third quarter. For the fourth quarter, Saks targets comparable-store sales in the mid- to high-single-digits percent. Gross margin should shrink half a percentage point in the quarter, but even then for all of fiscal 2012 the margin should improve from fiscal 2011, Saks said.

(6:39 AM ET) TEL AVIV (MarketWatch) -- Staples Inc.,
SPLS, +2.72%
the Framingham, Mass., office-supplies retailer, reported fiscal third-quarter net income rose 13% on 0.5% higher sales. For the quarter ended Oct. 29, earnings reached $326.4 million, or 47 cents a share, from $288.7 million, or 40 cents, in the year-earlier quarter. The year-ago adjusted profit per share was 41 cents. Shares outstanding fell 3.3% to 698 million. Sales advanced to $6.57 billion from $6.54 billion. A survey of analysts by FactSet Research produced consensus estimates of 47 cents a share of profit on $6.71 billion of sales. For the fiscal year, Staples expects to earn $1.38 to $1.42 a share, or an adjusted $1.35 to $1.39. FactSet's survey is looking for $1.39.

Home Depot 3rd-quarter net up 12%, sales up 4.4%

(6:23 AM ET) TEL AVIV (MarketWatch) -- Home Depot Inc.,
HD, +0.49%
the Atlanta home-improvement chain, reported fiscal third-quarter net income rose 12% on 4.4% higher net sales and 4.2% higher same-store sales. For the quarter ended Oct. 30, earnings reached $934 million, or 60 cents a share, from $834 million, or 51 cents, in the year-earlier period. Shares outstanding fell 6% to 1.55 billion. Sales reached $17.33 billion from $16.6 billion. A survey of analysts by FactSet Research produced consensus estimates of 59 cents a share of profit on $17.11 billion of sales. Home Depot declared a dividend of 29 cents a share, payable Dec. 15 to holders of record Dec. 1. That's up 16% from the previous 25-cent payout. And for fiscal 2012, the company lifted its earnings estimate, now expecting profit of $2.38 a share. FactSet's survey is looking for $2.36.

C&W Worldwide shares off after report, new CEO

(3:50 AM ET) TEL AVIV (MarketWatch) -- Shares of Cable & Wireless Worldwide PLC,(UK:CW)the U.K. provider of telecommunications services, slumped around 10% on Tuesday. The company swung to a first-half loss of 590 million pounds from a year-earlier profit of £87 million. Excluding special items, adjusted earnings were £34 million against £98 million. Revenue fell 4.5% to £1.07 billion from £1.12 billion. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization fell 6.4% to £190 million from £203 million. And C&W Worldwide named Gavin Darby chief executive. Darby joins the company from Vodafone Group PLC
VOD, +0.03%
(UK:VOD), where he'd held positions heading the U.K. business and the international operations. He'll succeed John Pluthero, who will step down from the board in December and leave the company in March. C&W said it reached agreement with its pension trustees on a funding plan. And it said it would pay the interim dividend of 0.75 pence a share but then suspend the payout to strengthen the balance sheet and conserve funds for investments.

Europe stocks lower on debt worries; C&W sinks

(3:15 AM ET) MADRID (MarketWatch) -- European stock markets opened lower on Tuesday with euro-zone debt worries once again plaguing investors, and all eyes on rising Spanish and Italian bond yields. The Stoxx Europe 600 index(XX:SXXP)fell 0.3% to 237.73, led by banks such as BNP Paribas SA(FR:BNP), down 1.5% and telecom stocks like Cable & Wireless Worldwide PLC(UK:CW), off over 10% after it reported half-year results and the announcement of a new chief executive officer. Shares of Burberry Group PLC(UK:BRBY)fell 2.3% after it reported half-year results. The FTSE 100 index(UK:UKX)fell 0.2% to 5,510.44, while the French CAC 40 index(FR:PX1)slipped 0.5% to 3,093.20 and the German DAX 30 index(DX:DAX)fell 0.5% to 5,955.32.

Burberry per-share net up 41%; pretax net up 26%

(2:32 AM ET) TEL AVIV (MarketWatch) -- Burberry Group PLC,
BURBY, +3.37%BBRYF, +3.10%
(UK:BRBY)the London luxury-goods group, reported that first-half net income per share rose 41%, and adjusted net added 27%, on 29% higher revenue. Profit was 26.4 pence ($0.42) a share compared with 18.7 pence in the year-earlier quarter. Adjusted net per share reached 26.9 pence from 21.1 pence. Adjusted profit before tax and special items rose 26% to 161.6 million pounds from 128.5 million. Revenue totaled 829.6 million pounds compared with 641.1 million. A survey of analysts by Dow Jones Newswires produced a consensus estimate on the pretax number of 160.3 million pounds. Burberry declared an interim dividend of 7 pence a share, up 40%.

Hennes & Mauritz Oct. same-store sales fall 2%

(2:31 AM ET) MADRID (MarketWatch) -- Swedish retailer Hennes & Mauritz AB(SE:HMB)reported Tuesday that same-store sales, including store, Internet and catalogue sales that have been in operation for at least a year, fell 2% in October. Group sales including value-added-tax rose 8% in local currencies. The total number of stores amounted to 2,410 as of October 31, versus 2,143 as of October 31, 2010.

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